The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-245149 filed on Aug. 11, 2001 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pedal apparatus for an automobile, more particularly to a pedal apparatus for an automobile that can adjust initial positions of a plurality of pedals.
2. Description of Related Art
An example of a pedal apparatus for an automobile is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid Open No. 51-22213. The pedal apparatus shown in the above laid-open application comprises a pedal (i.e. a brake pedal) attached to a bracket fixed to a vehicle body via a parallel link mechanism and an adjustment mechanism attached to the bracket for arbitrarily prescribing the form of the parallel link mechanism. In this pedal apparatus, an initial position of the brake pedal can be adjusted by adjustment operation by means of the adjustment mechanism.
In the pedal apparatus in the aforementioned application, a plurality of parallel link mechanisms are coaxially disposed at a connecting portion of the bracket, whereby a plurality of pedals are attached to the bracket via each parallel link mechanism. However, when a different value is set for the angle of depressing direction for each pedal (i.e. the operation feeling is set optimally for each pedal), a length of each pedal and a link length of each parallel mechanism need to be varied. In this case, if an initial position for each pedal is adjusted by adjustment operation by means of the adjustment mechanism, an adjustment stroke for each pedal and a relative position of each pedal are changed, and the adjustment stroke for each pedal cannot be made identical.
In addition, in the pedal apparatus in the aforementioned application, two stoppers that are attached to the bracket prescribe an allowable rotational range of an operation lever rotatably operated by the pedal. Therefore, cost is increased when respective stoppers are employed for a plurality of pedals. Further, in the pedal apparatus in the aforementioned application, to increase rigidity in the direction of plate thickness of the operation lever, the plate thickness of the operation lever itself needs to be made larger, thereby increasing weight and cost.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, a pedal apparatus for an automobile according to the first aspect of the invention comprises a plurality of pedals each of which is attached to a bracket fixed to a vehicle body via a plurality of parallel link mechanisms, a connection parallel link mechanism that connects a pair of plurality of parallel link mechanisms, and is provided with a pair of connection portions connecting the both parallel link mechanisms with the bracket, and an adjustment mechanism that is attached to the bracket, and arbitrarily prescribes the form of each parallel link mechanism.
Based on this arrangement, at least one of the plurality of pedals may be an operation pedal, and the bracket may be provided with prescribing portion that prescribes an allowable rotational range of the operation lever rotatably operated by the pedal. The prescribing portion may comprise arc grooves provided in the operation lever centered with respect to the center of the rotational operation, and stopper pins fixed to the bracket and inserted into the arc grooves. Further, securing portions to prevent looseness in the direction of plate thickness of the operation lever may be provided at the head of the stopper pins.
In a pedal apparatus for an automobile according to the first aspect of the invention, the form of each parallel link mechanism can be arbitrarily adjusted and prescribed by adjustment operation by means of the adjustment mechanism, and initial positions of a plurality of pedals can be adjusted simultaneously. In the mean time, a pair of a plurality of parallel link mechanisms for attaching a plurality of pedals respectively to the bracket are connected together at a connecting portion thereof to the bracket via a connection parallel link mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to set an angle in the depressing direction of each pedal by setting each portions to the optimal dimensions (i.e. to optimize the operation feeling of each pedal), as well as to make the adjustment strokes for the pedals which are adjusted simultaneously shall be identical (i.e. distance between both pedals is not changed).
In addition, there are some cases in which the invention is embodied in a form wherein at least one of the plurality of pedals is an operation pedal and the allowable rotational range of the operation lever rotatably operated by the operation pedal is prescribed by arc grooves centered with respect to the rotational operation center provided in the operation lever, and stopper pins fixed to the bracket and inserted into the arc grooves. In this case, the allowable rotational range of the operation lever (i.e. operation stroke of the pedal) can be prescribed by one piece of the stopper pins, and thus the cost is low.
In addition, in some cases the invention is embodied by providing securing portions to prevent looseness in the direction of plate thickness of the operation lever at the head portions of the stopper pins. In this case, the securing portion to prevent looseness can restrict movement of the operation lever in the direction of plate thickness of the operation lever, thereby increasing rigidity in that direction. Compared to when rigidity is increased in the direction of plate thickness of the operation lever by increasing the plate thickness of the operation lever itself, the weight and cost can be reduced further.